


Bastion of the Weak

by SandrC



Series: (K)Nights Alone [3]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Multi, Spoilers for The Stolen Century, Spoilers for ep. 61, TAZ: Nights, Taz spoilers, The Adventure Zone: Nights, Troth is my wife and I'm fucking so super goddamn stoked, and Clinton was so good, but thank you for integrating balance with nights, i have at least two whole feelings about this bullshit, praise the based mcelroys, travis sounded so pleased
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-28
Updated: 2017-04-28
Packaged: 2018-10-24 23:56:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10752432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SandrC/pseuds/SandrC
Summary: Bastion (n): an institution, building, or person who upholds certain ideals, laws, or beliefs. A protector.Her name meant trust. She had found it at last. Her trust.So she waited for sunrise.





	Bastion of the Weak

**Author's Note:**

> So...I've decided to finally bite the bullet. I'm gonna move Jump updates to TAZ Thursdays instead of every Thursday. I can't do a weekly update anymore. It's too much. (Plus I'm in three different dnd games and that's it's own thing—and I'm running one as well—so my week is fuckin cram-packed.) In the meantime, I wrote this because Griffin did this. Griffin did this to my wife. Bless this mess.
> 
> Also: LUP IS HER OWN DAMN PERSON THANK YOU GRIFFIN YOU ARE EVERYTHING I EVER NEEDED!!!!!!!!! Thank you.
> 
> Also also: the pain train has pulled into TAZ:N station and I'm fuckin restocking on tear-fuel. All aboard! Next stop: more Jump!!!

Troth had not thought she would have ended up here. She thought, if she even made it to this age, or a place where she was secure enough to trust someone like this, it wouldn't happen. But there was Tom and there was Lenny and there was Terra and the Magistrate and the Beasts. She was needed. She had things she could protect. She had a place to serve.

Troth had been the name she chose. 'Trust' is what it meant because that's what she was trying to learn. It was a lesson she managed to hit square on the head with her thwompin stick. Pow! Nat20.

But it got harder as the Beasts became the unintentional saviors of the Capital. More and more people were trusting them—were trusting her. She had the weight of four tiers of city on her shoulders but Tom and Lenny helped her support it. Then the Plague.

It was rot. It was decimation. If it breathed, if it's heart beat, then it died in the most gruesome manner possible. People watched as their lovers vomited up their entrails, organs that shouldn't be able to be disgorged via their digestive tract, and bled out. Pustules that burst open, swarming with maggots and pus that caused more pustules. Wounds that didn't heal, tooth loss, anemia, loss of senses; so much went on so quickly that the whole of Irin was blindsided.

The Circle and the Order did what they do best: save the rich and elite. But the Beasts? They had the true solutions. The Magistrate helped them spread the word: we can give you a second lease on life. Find the Beasts, they will explain. Terra passed secrets to loose lips who told whores who told blue-collar adulterers who told everyone who would listen. Tom mentioned it to his clients as he mixed drinks, gently mentioning it offhand as Chaser lazily napped in his hair. Lenny spun the secrets in his music, nasally proclaiming in code that the Beasts would save all they could. Troth passed it on to the people she helped. And when word was spread and the time was right, the plan was set in motion.

A giant control crystal. Millions of empty constructs. A reach of miles. An abandoned city. A choice. You can stay with your friends and family in the crystal or you can stay with your friends and family in constructs. Either or. We won't force you.

As the last soul was placed in the crystal, Tom's hands shaking with the effort of holding the weight of their hopes and dreams, the three leaders of the Beasts shared a long look. Terra sighed and smiled, knowingly. "I won't force you," she said, patting Troth on the shoulder, ruffling Tom's hair, and placing a hand flat over Lenny's heart.

"We've been at this for a while," Lenny shrugged.

"I'm...I'm satisfied...," Tom didn't meet anyone's eyes, Chaser letting out a soft peep as he yawned. "I think I'm done with-with this."

"Someone has to make sure no one destroys this," Terra gestured widely to the giant icosahedron made of magical gemstone, glowing dimly in the low-light. "And I figure, since I didn't do shit when you were running things, I'll take first shift. Or only shift, as it were?" She tried to sound strong, a smile wavering on her lips as tears glistened in the corners of her eyes.

"No," the three chorused. Surprised, though not by much, Tom looked around at his friends and co-leaders and nodded slowly. "You deserve to-to rest. Your brother is waiting on you. So whether you go be with Canis or-or stay with everyone else, is up to you. But know that we're proud of you regardless of your choice."

Terra broke into a wide and unabashed grin. The sheer sincerity of her smile blinded them. She swept the three of them into one big hug, demonstrating the strange strength that she had, and buried her face in Troth's chest and gave a few sobbing laughs. "I really am glad I found you."

"Yeah...," Lenny met everyone's eyes, wistful appreciation mixed with some sort of love and sorrow. "Me too."

Terra pulled away and dragged her arm across her eyes, drawing in a bubbly stream of snot with a loud inhale. "I'm...I'm gonna go protect the base. Keep em away, yanno? The Circle and the Order? They're prolly gonna wanna try an stop us cause...they're dicks. I'll just let things take their course, yeah?" Troth patted Terra on the head and she sighed. "We did good."

"Yeah, we did. Now go do you, little bird," Lenny shooed her off, fighting back the truth of his feelings. He genuinely wanted to hug her and tell her that everything was going to be okay but he couldn't get that lie to pass his lips. "We have work to do."

Terra nodded and dashed off, snagging a gun as she did, and the three of them watched her go, her shoulders far broader and more confident than before. It was a heartening sight.

And then it passed.

"So which one of us stays?" Tom twiddled his thumbs. Chaser nibbled on a banana chip in his hair. He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. That may have been true.

"I will," she volunteered readily and quickly. "Put me into a guardian and I'll keep the gem safe until it's no longer needed."

"But—!" Tom started, but Lenny cut him off.

"If that's what you want, stumpy." He gave a wobbly smile as she gently thumped him in the throat. "Lenny's gonna catch some etherial Z's."

"Be safe. If you miss us then you know where we are. Just-just give a rap on the gem." He swiped a hand across his face, pushing up his glasses and snorting unceremoniously. "Okay?"

"My name means 'trust'. This is what I was meant to do." Troth placed one of her big hands on both Lenny and Tom's cheeks and gently dragged her her thumb in small circles. "Thank you for helping me find my name. Thank you for being my friend. I trust you will be well."

"You know h-how to operate the machine, right?" Troth nodded and Tom gave an even more watery smile. "Good. Chaser and, uh, Lenny and I will...we'll be on our way then?"

"You did well Tom Collins," Troth pressed her boney forehead against his and his ears perked up as he relished in the affection. "Be safe."

"Yeah..."

Tom stepped into the chamber and pulled the lever, tearing his soul from his body and putting it into the gem. His body fell limp and then turned to dust before Thor eyes. Lenny scrubbed at his face and grumbled something about 'stupid dust'.

Troth bent down to meet Lenny's eyes—how the full-human had managed to be shorter than the other two was a mystery but there you were—and pressed her forehead to his. She felt his muscles work beneath her head as he tried to understand why she was doing this.

"You were a true friend. You are a true friend. Your music will keep me company in these centuries to come. Be safe Lenny Manolito." She drew away and gave him the most sincere smile he had ever seen.

"Thanks a bunch...Troth." He spoke slowly to keep from sobbing. She could hear the pain in his voice. "You...your tail ain't so stumpy after all...and you were the best at hurtin shit. Use that thwompin stick for good."

And he, too, transferred himself into the control gem, mind made up. Troth was alone. She was alone again.

All things considered, things could've been worse. She could've been killed earlier. She could've gotten the Plague. She could've never met her two closest friends. She could've been alone the whole time. Now? Now she had a job. She had a place where she was needed and where she was wanted. She had something she could give back to those who had given her so much.

So she adjusted the controls of the soul-transfer machine and pulled the lever, putting her soul into that of a guardian much like the one the Magistrate had been 'guarded' by so many years ago. It was painless and painful all at once but, for a change, she felt content.

And when the sun rose, so did the new Troth, eyes glowing with the dim light of her soul, and she stood watch, a guardian, a sentinel, a protector.

And the sun rose and set a hundred thousand times before the strangers appeared; before her job was done. And still, she waited for the sunrise, knowing she had indeed found her name.

Troth. Trust.

The sentinel.


End file.
